Fretboard
Chord Identifier & Player

C♯dim chord

C♯ diminished. The notes are C♯, E and G. Also written D♭dim. Four ways to play it are below the neck.

C♯dimDiminished
C♯ · E · G · C♯ · ER ♭3 ♭5also
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Ways to play C♯dim

Open position first, then up the neck. Tap a shape to put it on the fretboard above and hear it. The numbers are fingers (1 is your index), × means leave that string out, and ○ means let it ring open.

What's in C♯dim

A diminished triad stacks two minor 3rds: root, minor 3rd and flat 5th. C♯dim is C♯, E, G. The root and ♭5 are a tritone apart, the same interval that drives a dominant 7th.

NoteFormulaInterval from C♯
C♯1Root
E♭3Minor 3rd
G♭5Diminished 5th

Tight and unsettled, and it rarely stays put. It is the vii° chord of a major key, and as a passing chord it bridges two chords a whole step apart.

Keys that use C♯dim

Every major and minor key whose scale contains all of C♯, E and G, and the chord's Roman numeral in each. Minor keys marked harmonic get the chord from the raised 7th of the harmonic minor scale.

KeyC♯dim is the
B minorii°
D majorvii°
D minor (harmonic)vii°

Progressions to try

vii°–I in D major

  1. C♯dim
  2. D

A diminished triad wants to rise a half step to the chord above it.

I–♯i°–ii in C major

  1. C
  2. C♯dim
  3. Dm

As a passing chord, the bass climbs one half step at a time between two chords a whole step apart.

Other chords on C♯:

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